› added 4 years ago

155

TIL The characterization of Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars saga as an ambitious and ruthless politician dismantling a democratic republic to achieve supreme power is in part inspired by Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler. Other elements of the character come from Richard Nixon.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

MbK7 TIL that “The Elf on the Shelf” is criticized for teaching kids that it’s okay to be spied on, another tool of the surveillance state
Xb48 TIL of the first person to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge - a professional high diver who wanted to ‘demonstrate that people did not die by simply falling through the air’. He proved himself correct after falling, safely, 135 feet through the air; dying from impact upon hitting the water.
jNYaQ TIL that Constantinople was renamed to Istanbul in the 1930s, by the Republic of Turkey, not the Ottomans after the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
v1BL4 TIL that tennis legend Rafa Nadal is predominantly right-handed yet he plays left-handed. When growing up he was playing double handed forehand and backhand but Uncle Toni (his coach) pushed him to use his left as he would be more difficult to play against. 18 grand slam titles later......
nW8kd TIL That Crows Can Count Aloud Much Like Toddlers.